Udhampur

In 2008 Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party(JKNPP) had won three Assembly seats of Ramnagar, Udhampur and Samba. Led by legislature party leader Harsh Dev Singh the young turks of the party were very vocal both inside and outside the state assembly and tried their level best to shore up their image in the eyes of electorate. In the run up to the 2014 Assembly polls as the political parties are gearing up to fight the most crucial poll battle the Panthers Party is facing biggest ever challenge of identity crisis as the party is on brink of getting fragmented. The two senior leaders of the party Prof Bhim Singh and Harsh Dev Singh are at loggerheads with each other over …

Only three days have passed when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated train services to Katra and the new DMU bogies,decorated for the official flag off ceremony, have simply vanished. Barring Friday when school children had embarked on their life’s maiden journey the passengers/pilgrims travelling on the route have been doing so in old and worn out coaches of DMU running between Udhampur and Pathankot for past several years. In the absence of new coaches pressed in to service the pilgrims traveling on the old coaches have been facing lot of hardships. Since Mata Vaishno Devi bound pilgrims arrive here from distant locations they are in the habit of using mobile toilets on board rail bogies but DMU coaches have …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the Udhampur-Katra rail link by flagging of the Vaishno Devi Express. The 25 km stretch from Udhapmur to Katra has cost Rs 1100 crore and has taken nearly 12 years to be made. The train will pass through 10 tunnels covering a distance of 10.9 km. All tunnels are illuminated and the longer tunnels have been provided state of art ventilation and systems for safety and rescue. The tunnel number 23 is the longest on the section having a length of 3.120 km.

Udhampur-Kathua MP Dr. Jitendra Singh takes a victory lap on Saturday in Udhampur after registering a remarkable victory over Congress party’s high profile candidate and the then Union Cabinet Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Jitendra Singh, diabetologist by profession, is the MoS for Prime Minister Office Personnel, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Public Grievances & Pensions Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space. He had joined BJP in 2009 and is a member of the party’s National Executive Committee. He has authored Eight books.

BJP activists, on Friday and Saturday, took out rallies in different parts of Udhampur to celebrate the party’s victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. BJP swept the polls in Jammu and Ladakh bagging three seats in the state. In Udhampur parliamentary constituency, BJP’s debutant Dr Jitendra Singh defeated Congress party’s high profile candidate and Union Cabinet Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad with a margin of 60,976 votes. While as Dr Singh polled 4,87,369 votes, Azad trailed with 4,26,393. PDP’s Arshid Malik got 30,461 and the National Panthers Party candidate Prof Bhim Singh just 25,312 votes.

In a close fight between Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Dr Jitendra Singh the question every one was asking on Friday Kaun banega MP? High voter turnout and pattern of voting in two different regions has made the job of poll pundits more difficult. It is going to be a very close call for both the rival candidates, claim majority of poll pundits. For some who see Union Health Minister a more formidable candidate in comparison to Dr JItendra Singh of BJP the high voter turn out in five assembly segments of Kathua is a cause of concern. The mood of electorate in the region was against incumbent Congress led UPA government and the overall …

103 years old Massu Ram was the first one, on Thursday to cast vote in Hiranagar and set the trend for higher voter turnout today. Till 3 pm there was 61% polling in Udhampur Parliamentary Constituency. Reasi district crossed 70% mark, heavy turnout in Urban centres of Udhampur, Kathua. Massu Ram was among the first voters at the polling station number 67 in Hiranagar town of Kathua district that falls under the Udhampur Parliamentary constituency in Jammu and Kashmir today. Massu Ram also told reporters, “This could be my last vote. I cannot afford to let it go waste.”